I noticed the woman in the leather jacket had many horizontal scars on both arms where she had cut herself with a blade. She had lost both her parents in a car crash when she was 7 years old and was then brought up in an orphanage. She became a Christian 16 years ago, never regretted it and subsequently married a Christian man. She showed me the inside of both wrists that had Bible verses tattooed on them. One was from Isaiah, the other from the Book of Acts. She told me God had never left her. When she was homeless on the streets of Bristol for 6 months He had looked after her and she never suffered any harm.

When she told her husband she was transgendering to a male he freaked out and started abusing her. As a result, she ended up in hospital.

She told me she wanted to find a church. Some churches she had been to had struggled to relate to her situation and she had become discouraged.

Suddenly I was overcome with compassion and was fighting back the tears as I absorbed her story. I instinctively gave her a hug and she clung on to me for a long time. She said no-one apart from her husband had hugged her for over 2 years.

She said she had legally changed her name (to a man’s name) recently, but church people didn’t want to use the new name.

I suggested a local church which I thought would accept him and his new name in a loving and compassionate way. We looked up the phone number of the pastor, whom I knew, and I suggested he phone him and explain his situation and ask about church services. He said he would.

When you become a Christian you begin a brand new life in Jesus Christ- you are “born again”. Many people today would claim to be a Christian. But how would you know if they were a genuine Christian? What are the hallmarks of the true Christian?

Check out this Youtube video “True Christian” from Pastor Paul at ClearSpring Church in Gloucester, England, UK:

I went out with our Healing Team this morning and had several encounters.

One lady sat down for prayer. She had recently had her application for ministry training in the church rejected. She was feeling rather confused and uncertain, but was adamant she wanted God’s will for her life. I told her she was on the home straight already; wanting God’s will for your life is the best mindset to be in! We prayed and she went away with, I think, some hope in her heart.

As elderly gentleman came along, carrying several bags of shopping. It turned out he was 91! He said he was suffering from glaucoma and cataracts. He was a Christian, so we talked about Jesus ministry of healing and how he never turned anyone away. We laid hands on him and asked how he felt. His reply was : “I feel strengthened!”

I noticed a woman taking one of our leaflets and soon afterwards coming back in my direction. I stopped her and we had a chat. She looked like, and turned out to be, an amazing woman. She had so many unusual experiences since childhood, it was clear she was one of a kind. She was a Christian, but admitted she’d been in some dark places over the years. After a long chat I asked her if she’d like prayer. She said she would, so myself and a lady team member knelt and ministered to her. We both were able to give her words from the Lord, many of which which she felt were right on the mark – and encouraging to her too.

A Jewish man I know, who has rather droppped out of normal society after life problems affected him badly, came by. I had given him one of my website cards that week. He pushed a piece of paper into my hand and walked off. I opened it and it was a scriptural response to the wording on my card. Unsurprisingly, he disagreed with the words of Jesus I had got printed on the card. He is a very intelligent guy and knows the Jewish scriptures inside out, so a bit of challenge in many ways!.

Woman who came in for food today was telling me about her life. She had been abused as a child and from the age of 12 she had done what she felt like, with no rules or boundaries.

As you can imagine, she was fed up and said she wanted to change her life. I told her our Food Bank was run by Christians. She said “I’d like to be a Christian”. I gave her my website card and invited her to have a look at it.

More people came in after this and sadly, I didn’t have the chance to give her a tract or a gospel. Lord, speak to her and draw her to yourself, despite my frailty!

In town I met a non-Christian guy I know on the margins of society who has a badly damaged leg. He goes into hospital for a 3 hour operation tomorrow, with a long recovery period following. He was really worried about it and I offered to pray with him which he gladly accepted. He thanked me and said:”when I recover I’m coming to your church!”.

I then met up with a Christian lady in our Street Mission as her team were going round town and we chatted to a couple she knew. The wife was a Christian, but not the husband. He talked abut the various illness he was suffering from, and said he was suffering pain in his neck from an accident. I offered to pray and his wife encouraged him to accept. He eventually agreed and I spoke to the pain and told it to go. He got some improvement, but not a great deal. I told him to thank Jesus throughout the day for what he was doing in his body if he wanted to see further improvement.

I had an e-mail today through my website from a guy who said he wants to become a Christian. He asked me to send a Bible and some Christian books, but didn’t give an address. I asked for his details, so am waiting for his reply.

This post follows on from my two previous January 2013 posts (1) “How Do I Become a Christian and (2) “Practical Steps To Follow To Become a Christian”.

Sadly, many churches offer little dedicated teaching for new Christians in any depth. Fortunately, one British website has recognised this and provides many resources for them. The site is “New Christian UK” and you can see a list of basic pages here . This site will help you understand how to live as a Christian, gives you advice about the Bible, the Holy Spirit, etc and how to share your faith story with others.

As you grow as a Christian and mature, this same website will accompany you along the way. Their “What’s New? Page” has links to over 200 other pages on the same site, including stories of others who have become Christians. One recent testimony added was LD’s story of her tormented life before she became a Christian. The video “A Man Fell Into a Hole” shows the uniqueness of Jesus Christ amongst other religions that exist.